The Five-Year Engagement (2012)

The Five-Year Engagement Synopsis

The director and writer/star of Forgetting Sarah Marshall reteam for the irreverent comedy The Five-Year Engagement. Beginning where most romantic comedies end, the new film from director Nicholas Stoller, producer Judd Apatow (Knocked Up, The 40-Year-Old Virgin) and Rodney Rothman (Get Him to the Greek) looks at what happens when an engaged couple, Jason Segel and Emily Blunt, keeps getting tripped up on the long walk down the aisle.

Like the deep breath before the plunge, box office sales sagged for the last week of April, giving Think Like A Man a second weekend at the number one spot. Four newcomers settled for lukewarm openings while the first of a long string of summer blockbusters got an early start in international theaters.

Creating a quality romantic comedy is a hard business made even harder by the fact that most men donít want to watch romantic comedies, but that only makes what Nicholas Stoller did in 2008 with Forgetting Sarah Marshall that much more special. The movie was sweet, fun and great for both men and women, refusing to pick sides and being fueled by reality.

This week on Operation Kino we're dragging our heels on our way to the altar, as all four of us have actually seen and gather to review The Five-Year Engagement. From there we pick up on some of the chatter from the movie theater owner trade convention Cinema Con and talk about some of the proposed changes for movie theaters, and whether or not it makes sense to freak out every time they try to change something about the moviegoing experience

Thereís an interesting trick that Jason Segel and Emily Blunt pull off in their new comedy, The Five-Year Engagement. When the characters decide to leave their San Francisco home and move to Ann Arbor, Michigan, Segelís character, Tom, is miserable, but Bluntís character, Violet, sees all of her dreams start to come true.

Yes, we need more parts that challenge excellent female performers. But Iím also arguing that more of those parts need to be offered to Blunt, because sheís too good for Miss Piggyís receptionist in the Muppet reboot, or the sexy sidekick in Tom Cruiseís All You Need is Kill.

Iím away for the weekend, forgot my computer charger at home, was hijacked into going to church this morning and now need to finish this column on an old laptop that runs Internet Explorer. This is what hell is all about. Thank goodness weíve got a full slate of movies to buoy my spirits

When I had the chance to visit the set of The Five-Year Engagement and interview director Nicholas Stoller and producer Rodney Rothman, one movie that they referenced as partial inspiration for their new film was When Harry Met Sally. And the comparison makes sense. Both movies deal with relationships spanning over a long period of time and feature two incredibly likable leads who audiences desperately want to see be happy by the time the end credits roll.

When news broke that The Muppets director James Bobin and co-writer Nicholas Stoller were in the works on a sequel, many were shocked to hear Segel's name left out of the project. First he wasn't writing it, being too busy between How I Met Your Mother and a hectic slate of movie projects. Then Segel quashed our hopes of seeing him reprise his role as that Muppet of a man, Gary. And now, the lumbering leading man makes it clear he will not even pop up as a cameo in Muppets 2.

I caught up with Blunt a few weeks ago to talk primarily about Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, how she built her clipped, prim character and how the film's humor took her by surprise. But we also talked about her adjustment to improv and intimate filmmaking in Your Sister's Sister, and how Segel and director Nicholas Stoller gave her a major role in developing the script for The Five Year Engagement

Last summer a group of journalists including myself were given the wonderful opportunity to visit the set of The Five-Year Engagement in Sonoma, California) and addition to interviewing with the wonderful ensemble cast, we had the chance to speak with Stoller and Rothman about how the project came to be and what we can expect from the new comedy.

Five years is a long time. Itís the difference between a newborn and a kindergartener; an eighth grader and a college freshman; and someone in their mid-twenties and another in their early-thirties. Itís a time period lengthy enough to become a completely different person. So, as you can imagine, itís a long time to be engaged

Last summer I had the pleasure of traveling up to the Beltane Ranch in Sonoma (called The Drunken Pig in the movie) to both talk with the cast and crew of the comedy and watch them film a few scenes, including a brief and graphic encounter between Emily Blunt and a local vineyard owner as well as congratulatory toasts from those closest to the future bride and groom

New York City's biggest film festival is preparing to once again take over lower Manhattan this April, and this year they'll be doing it with the help of Jason Segel and Emily Blunt. The Tribeca Film Festival announced today that the new comedy The Five-Year Engagement

From the premise (and title) of Nick Stollerís The Five-Year Engagement, it sounds like the lead characters, played by Emily Blunt and Jason Segel, are taking a bit longer than usual to make it to the altar. The film is due to hit theaters in April and the stars were back on set for re-shoots recently, filming what looks like a fairly big moment from the film.

Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller are quickly establishing themselves as one of the best duos working in comedy right now. It started, of course, with the hilarious Forgetting Sarah Marshall in 2008, and, unless you've been living under a rock (or live in a foreign country - sorry) you know that The Muppets is one of the best films of the year.

Fun fact: if you're interested in playing Six Degrees on how Mindy Kaling got here: her Office co-star John Krasinski is dating Emily Blunt, who's the female lead here, or she starred in The 40-Year Old Virgin, which was directed by Judd Apatow, who is producing Five Year Engagement

It seems safe to assume that Weaver will be playing the mother of one of the characters, but really you never know-- maybe they've found a way for her to reprise her villainous Animal Kingdom character Smurf in a more comedic context. You never know!